Sorption of heavy metals from electroplating effluent using immobilized biomass Trichoderma viride in a continuous packed-bed column

The sorption of heavy metals ions by immobilized Trichoderma viride biomass in a packed-bed column was studied. Fungal biomass T. viride was immobilized to Ca-alginate used for removal of Cr(VI), Ni(II) and Zn(II) ions from synthetic solutions and electroplating effluent. The experiments were conducted to study the effect of important design parameters such as bed height, flow rate and initial concentration of metal ions. The maximum sorption capacity was observed at flow rate 5 ml/min, bed height 20 cm and metal ions concentration 50 mg/L with immobilized biomass. Whereas, breakthrough time and saturation time decreased with increase flow rate and metal ions concentration and an inverse condition was found in bed height. The bed depth service time (BDST) Adams-Bohart model was used to analyze the experimental data. The regeneration efficiency was observed 40.1%, 75% and 53% for Cr(VI), Ni(II) and Zn(II) without any significant alteration in sorption capacity after 5th sorption-desorption cycles.     

Technology for efficient and successful delivery of vermicompost colonized bioinoculants in Pogostemon cablin (patchouli) Benth.

The usefulness of vermicompost as a supporting media for growth of bioinoculants was evaluated for successful transfer of sufficient propagules of bioinoculants into the organic fields. The rooted plants after 50 days were pot and field tested for their growth and yield performances when transplanted along with rooting medium into pots/organic fields. The rooting medium, 50 days of inoculation, contained sufficient population of bioinoculants and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Treatment with bioinoculants (except Trichoderma harzianum) substantially improved the root and shoot biomass of nursery raised rooted cuttings particularly in treatments containing Azotobacter chroococcum (150 and 91.67%, respectively), Glomus intraradices (117 and 91.67%, respectively) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (117 and 83%, respectively). The transplanted rooted plants in pots, over two harvests, yielded higher shoot biomass when rooting medium contained A. chroococcum (147%), G. intraradices (139%) and P. fluorescencs (139%). Although the treatments did not affect the content of essential oil, the quality of essential oil as measured by the content of patchouli alcohol improved with Glomus aggregatum (18%). Similar trends were observed in field trials with significantly higher biomass yield achieved with A. chroococcum (51%), G. intraradices (46%) and P. fluorescencs (17%) compared to control (un-inoculated) plots. Increased in herb yield was found to be related with increased nutrient uptake. The population of bioinoculants in the rhizosphere was observed to be considerably higher in plots receiving vermicompost enriched with bioinoculants. This technology can be a successful way of delivering sufficient propagules of bioinoculants along with vermicompost especially in organic fields.     

XIAP inhibitor and antiestrogen embelin abrogates metastasis and augments apoptosis in estrogen receptor positive human breast adenocarcinoma cell line MCF-7

Tamoxifen therapy for the treatment of hormone responsive breast cancer has limitations due to acquired resistance in the case of recurrences. Embelin, a known inhibitor of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) was also reported to exhibit strong antiestrogenic effects in animal models. Dual role of embelin as a proapoptotic and antiestrogenic agent may have potential benefits in the therapy of breast cancer. In this study, the effects of embelin treatment on estrogen receptor positive Human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cells was investigated to primarily understand if embelin being an antiestrogen and XIAP inhibitor could be a potential alternative to tamoxifen therapy. Results revealed that, embelin at a concentration of 65 μg/ml attenuated proliferation, inhibited metastatic migration, modulated the expression of Bcl2, Caspases and induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells which was found to be p53 mediated. Hence, chemotherapy with embelin could be a promising strategy to be experimented in hormone responsive breast cancers.     

A review of advanced oral drug delivery technologies facilitating the protection and absorption of protein and peptide molecules

The oral delivery of proteins and peptides is a dynamic research field despite the numerous challenges limiting their effective delivery. Successful oral delivery of proteins and peptides requires the accomplishment of three key tasks: protection of the macromolecules from degradation in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), permeation through the intestinal barrier and absorption of molecules into the systemic circulation. Currently, no clinically useful oral formulations have been developed but several attempts have been made to overcome the challenges of low oral bioavailability resulting from poor absorption, poor permeation and enzymatic degradation of the proteins and peptides in the GIT. Present strategies attempt to provide structural protection of the proteins and peptides and improved absorption through the use of enzyme inhibitors, absorption enhancers, novel polymeric delivery systems and chemical modification. However, each of these technologies has their limitations despite showing positive results. This review attempts to discuss the physical and chemical barriers of the GIT with particular emphasis on the current approaches employed to overcome these barriers, including the evaluation of other non-parenteral routes of protein and peptide delivery. In addition, this review assimilates oral formulation strategies under development and within the clinical trial stage in relation to their benefits and drawbacks with regard to facilitating optimal protection and absorption of proteins and peptides, as well as pertinent future challenges and opportunities governing oral drug delivery.     

Clinical Utility of Waist Circumference in Predicting All‐cause Mortality in a Preventive Cardiology Clinic Population: A PreCIS Database Study

Although obesity is a risk factor for mortality, it is unclear whether waist circumference (WC) is a better predictor of mortality than BMI in a clinical setting of patients at high risk for coronary artery disease (CAD). Thus, we compared the association between WC and BMI with all‐cause mortality in relation to traditional CAD risk factors in a high‐risk cohort. Study population included 5,453 consecutive new patients seen between 1996 and 2005 for management of CAD risk factors in a preventive cardiology clinic. Mortality was determined from the Social Security Death Index. There were 359 deaths over a median follow‐up of 5.2 years. Mortality was greater in high (>102 cm in men and >88 cm in women) vs. normal WC in both genders (P < 0.01). The unadjusted Cox proportional hazard ratio (HR) for continuous WC (per cm) was 1.02 (P < 0.001) in both genders and remained significant after adjustment for CAD risk factors (HR = 1.01 in men, HR = 1.03 in women, both P < 0.05). BMI did not associate statistically with mortality. WC associated with diabetes mellitus (DM) and CAD prevalence (P < 0.001). BMI associated only with DM (P < 0.001) and this association disappeared when WC was added to the model. We conclude that WC is an independent predictor of all‐cause mortality in a preventive cardiology population. These data affirm the clinical importance of WC measurements for mortality, DM, and CAD risk prediction and suggest that obesity‐specific interventions targeting WC in addition to traditional risk factor management may favorably impact these outcomes.     

Deploying QTL-seq for rapid delineation of a potential candidate gene underlying major trait-associated QTL in chickpea

A rapid high-resolution genome-wide strategy for molecular mapping of major QTL(s)/gene(s) regulating important agronomic traits is vital for in-depth dissection of complex quantitative traits and genetic enhancement in chickpea. The present study for the first time employed a NGS-based whole-genome QTL-seq strategy to identify one major genomic region harbouring a robust 100-seed weight QTL using an intra-specific 221 chickpea mapping population (desi cv. ICC 7184 × desi cv. ICC 15061). The QTL-seq-derived major SW QTL (CaqSW1.1) was further validated by single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker-based traditional QTL mapping (47.6% R² at higher LOD >19). This reflects the reliability and efficacy of QTL-seq as a strategy for rapid genome-wide scanning and fine mapping of major trait regulatory QTLs in chickpea. The use of QTL-seq and classical QTL mapping in combination narrowed down the 1.37 Mb (comprising 177 genes) major SW QTL (CaqSW1.1) region into a 35 kb genomic interval on desi chickpea chromosome 1 containing six genes. One coding SNP (G/A)-carrying constitutive photomorphogenic9 (COP9) signalosome complex subunit 8 (CSN8) gene of these exhibited seed-specific expression, including pronounced differential up-/down-regulation in low and high seed weight mapping parents and homozygous individuals during seed development. The coding SNP mined in this potential seed weight-governing candidate CSN8 gene was found to be present exclusively in all cultivated species/genotypes, but not in any wild species/genotypes of primary, secondary and tertiary gene pools. This indicates the effect of strong artificial and/or natural selection pressure on target SW locus during chickpea domestication. The proposed QTL-seq-driven integrated genome-wide strategy has potential to delineate major candidate gene(s) harbouring a robust trait regulatory QTL rapidly with optimal use of resources. This will further assist us to extrapolate the molecular mechanism underlying complex quantitative traits at a genome-wide scale leading to fast-paced marker-assisted genetic improvement in diverse crop plants, including chickpea.     

The C-Terminus of ClpC1 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Is Crucial for Its Oligomerization and Function

Mycobacterium tuberculosis ClpC1 is a member of the Hsp100/Clp AAA+ family of ATPases. The primary sequence of ClpC1 contains two N-terminal domains and two nucleotide binding domains (NBD). The second NBD has a long C-terminal sub-domain containing several motifs important for substrate interaction. Generally, ClpC proteins are highly conserved, however presence of C-terminal domains of variable lengths is a remarkable difference in ClpC from different species. In this study, we constructed deletion mutants at the C-terminus of M. tuberculosis ClpC1 to determine its role in the structure and function of the protein. In addition, a deletion mutant having the two conserved N-terminal domains deleted was also constructed to investigate the role of these domains in M. tuberculosis ClpC1 function. The N-terminal domains were found to be dispensable for the formation of oligomeric structure, and ATPase and chaperone activities. However, deletions beyond a specific region in the C-terminus of the ClpC1 resulted in oligomerization defects and loss of chaperonic activity of the protein without affecting its ATPase activity. The truncated mutants, defective in oligomerization were also found to have lost the chaperonic activity, showing the formation of oligomer to be required for the chaperonic activity of M. tuberculosis ClpC1. The current study has identified a region in the C-terminus of M. tuberculosis ClpC1 which is essential for its oligomerization and in turn its function.     

Detecting RNA viruses in living mammalian cells by fluorescence microscopy

Traditional methods that rely on viral isolation and culture techniques continue to be the gold standards used for detection of infectious viral particles. However, new techniques that rely on visualization of live cells can shed light on understanding virus-host interaction for early stage detection and potential drug discovery. Live-cell imaging techniques that incorporate fluorescent probes into viral components provide opportunities for understanding mRNA expression, interaction, and virus movement and localization. Other viral replication events inside a host cell can be exploited for non-invasive detection, such as single-virus tracking, which does not inhibit viral infectivity or cellular function. This review highlights some of the recent advances made using these novel approaches for visualization of viral entry and replication in live cells.